Originally Posted by alfaromeo

I think your central problem is separating out what was a result of the TA and what wasn't. How many pilots posted their 12 month lookback on hours that were less than 200 for the year? How many guys have been talking about sitting on reserve and not flying for weeks? It certainly shouldn't have been any surprise to you that we were overstaffed by a good amount starting 2012. In January 2012 we had 1430 pilots over the minimum staffing formula. As a comparison, January 2007 we had 300 pilots over the min staffing formula. That overstaffing was before we even started negotiations. That overstaffing had nothing to do with the TA.

Also, it should not be a surprise that the poor economy in Europe that is causing a decrease in Atlantic flying is also not a result of the TA. We had well over a hundred (maybe close to 200) guys come back from military leave, that had nothing to do with the TA. The A-330's were scheduled to go to lie flat mods and that had nothing to do with the TA.

So you are trying to conflate everything negative about your career progression with the ratification of the TA. This is just a false argument.

These are the differences that occurred with the TA;

1. Early out program that let about 200 pilots out early
2. Work rule changes, some positive some negative, that cost about 125-150 jobs net
3. Acceleration of 50 seat removals and addition of 717's (or other small narrow body) at a faster rate than without the TA

In short, the TA made whatever bad stuff you feel, less bad. Without the TA we still were overstaffed, pilots would still come back from Mil Leave, the A-330's would go in for mx, and Europe would still be in recession. Each bid that has come out since the TA has been net positive for pilots moving to higher paying positions and this will be the same. Much of that gain has been because the early out program and the addition of 290 jobs from the 717.


So you can rant all you want. If you want to blame the weather on the TA or SuperStorm Sandy or anything else you can. The problem is separating out independent and dependent events. Most on this forum simply lump all their problems, real or perceived, and then blame the TA for this. That is a false argument.